Sunday, March 29, 2009

11 Ways on How to Apply for a Job

11 Ways on How to Apply for a Job
Tips to Improve Your Chances of Being Hired


Financial and Retirement Planning Information - 
for Beginners

If you have been in the same job for years, and suddenly find yourself laid off, or due to today's economic market you have to come out of retirement, you will soon find that you can't get a job the same way you did 20, 30, or 40 years ago. Even if you could, you may have forgotten some basics, so this article should help you brush up on applying for employment in today's market.  It can also be of benefit to anyone applying for a job.

So much of what is written and what is said on TV by people like Suze Orman and Gerri Willis about financial information, while good, is not usually geared to the everyday common person, in my opinion.

One of the first things they always mention when talking about job seeking is to "dust off your resume." Do you have a resume? Many of us don't, but we are still looking for jobs. Jobs that if we gave a resume to a prospective employer, they would throw it in the trash. I know, I've seen it happen.

The employer usually wants to know some or all of the information that would be in a resume, but they put that on their application and that is all they want to see.

What does a potential employer want?

1. Promptness – If you are applying for a job and the deadline is 3:00 pm on Friday, get your application in by 3:00 pm on Friday. If you can't even be depended on to get an application in on time, how can the employer expect you to get to work and perform your duties on time? You won't even be called in for an interview.

If you do get your application in on time, and are called in for an interview, be on time. Leave your house extra early. If it usually takes you 15 minutes to get to where you are going, leave 30 minutes early. You never know what might happen to make you late.

If you are on your way to an interview and something big really delays you (there is a wreck on the interstate and no way to detour), call and tell them why you are going to be late, and ask if you can reschedule. Note: be sure you have the phone number with you before you leave your house.

2. Neatness – Be neat on your application and in person. If there is one job opening and 50 applicants, you can be sure that the applications that are filled out neatly will be given more weight. If it is too messy, it may even be thrown out without being read.  Studies show that many employers spend only 30 seconds looking at an application when they are weeding out the ones they are interested in.

If you get called in for an interview, show up clean, neat, and dressed appropriately. Don't wear a three piece suit if you are applying for a job as a mechanic, but don't wear your work clothes, either. A clean pair of jeans with a button up shirt, or perhaps a polo shirt would be appropriate. Don't wear greasy jeans, a t-shirt, or coveralls. While these might be what you will be wearing to work in, they are not appropriate for an interview. Being clean and neat is doubly important if you will be performing a job that involves meeting the public.

3. Be prepared – Be sure you have a pen with you and all of your background information, even if you are just stopping by to pick up an application. Many places won't let you take it home and will have you fill it out right then and there.  Why won't they let you take it home?  They want to make sure you fill it out on your own and that you don't need help.

I have even had an interview at the time I just stopped by to pick up an application, so try to be dressed as though you had an interview scheduled. If that is not possible (you are stopping by on your way home from work), make sure you are as close to being ready for an interview as possible. Make sure your hands are clean – you don't want to leave grease all over your application or the interviewer. Make sure that the secretary or receptionist knows you are coming from work by making a comment about it.

4. Read before writing – Read the instructions. If they say to write “N/A” if something doesn't apply, make sure you write “N/A”. If you can't follow instructions when filling out an application, how can you be expected to follow instructions about your job duties?

This sounds like a no -brainer, but read each box before filling it in. It says, “Name” and you start writing, “John Doe”, THEN you notice that it says, “Last Name First”. Now you have to make a correction. That is sloppy. It also shows you did not read before writing, but just rushed right in without trying to understand what was wanted. Does an employer want someone who will do that on the job?

It is all right, and even a good idea, to have a paper with you to copy all of your background information from. This would be past addresses, employers, dates, and anything else that might be asked on the application.

If you have had any special training, make sure you have that on your paper. Be specific with the correct name of the class and the dates taken. If you had CPR, for instance, don't just put “CPR”. Put “Child and Adult CPR and Basic Life Support, 4 hours, Red Cross, June 2008”. It is also a good idea to have copies of any certificates you may have been given for classes or training, as well as any awards (employee of the month, etc.).  Ask if you may turn these in along with the application.

5. Fill in your application completely and correctly– If there is a question you don't understand what is wanted, ask. Don't leave blank spaces (unless instructed to). Draw a line, or put "N/A" in the space. That way the employer knows you did not just skip over that question, or maybe didn't even notice it. It shows that you are thorough. Sometimes you may be tempted to leave a section blank because you don't really want to answer that question. Don't do it. In most cases, it will be found out anyway, and can be grounds for dismissal. Not telling about something is almost the same as lying about it.

When I say to fill it in correctly, I mean without any mistakes.  Supose you fil in an aplication with alot of speling misstakes. Do you think that would make a good impression?  Also watch your punctuation. If your were to write: im taking a class in automobile mechanics finishing valves and pistons in june.  What exactly does that mean?  Are you taking a class in how to finish valves and pistons, only during the month of June?  That is what it sounds like. A better way would be: I'm taking a class in automobile mechanics.  I will finish in June with the last lesson, valves and pistons.

So, before your turn that application in, go back over it one more time and proofread it thoroughly for any mistakes.

6. Be honest – But don't give more information than necessary. One of the big ones is previous employment. Going back to the previous tip, if you leave a blank spot of six months in your employment history because you had a fight with your previous boss and got fired, don't leave it off. Just put it down without making any comment. If asked on the application why you left, put “Let go”. If you get to the interview stage, then you can explain. You can't put a proper explanation in that tiny box, and if you leave it off entirely, the employer might think you didn't work for six months because you were in jail.

What if you really were in jail? Put it down in the section where it is asked. Don't try to hide it. The prospective employer may not hire you, but you won't get caught in a lie. If the employer likes everything else and decides to give you a chance, he will appreciate your having been honest.

7. Be nice to the secretary, receptionist, or other office staff you meet – This is usually the first person you will see when you go in to ask for an application or for an interview. Sometimes Secretaries are really Office Managers and will be part of the interview process – either directly or indirectly. Some employers ask that person what was their impression of you when you came in.

Even if it doesn't have anything to do with getting a job, it is just good manners to be polite and friendly to the “underlings”. You don't want to be treated like a nobody and neither do they. If you do get hired, a good office staff person can help you in many little ways. If they don't like you, they can make your life much harder.

8. Ask questions – A good time to ask questions is before you even apply for a job. If you know someone who works there, talk to them. If you don't, try to find out a little about the company. Look it up on the internet, or call and ask that nice office person a few questions.

What do you need to know? Well, it depends on what the job is for, but knowing a little about a company during an interview can really pay off. If you are applying for a job as a muffler installer at a big muffler chain, you already know what they do so you don't have to research that, but if, during the interview, you say something like, “I know your company is #1 nationally, but how do you compare locally? Has that new shop that just opened adversely affected your business?” This should impress the interviewer because 1) you cared enough to find out something about the company, 2) you are interested in where they are positioned today and where they are going tomorrow, and 3) you show you may have potential to move up to a better position, perhaps as manager, later on.

9. Be observant – Try to discover something that isn't general knowledge or that the average person might not pay attention to. A person I once knew had a flower shop and all of his delivery vehicles had license plates that read, “Flowers 1”, “Flowers 2”, and so on. Obviously he was proud of his business and wanted to show it. The licenses were also a form of advertisement. Now don't you think he would appreciate it if you mentioned them during the interview?

10. Network – Here's one from the “Big Boys” handbook. All that high falutin word means is that you talk with other people and keep in touch with what is going on in regard to your job interest. Many jobs are never advertised, but are found through current employees and word of mouth. Take advantage of it.

11. If you do have a resume, ask if you may attach it to your application.

Friday, March 27, 2009

Retirement and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 ("Stimulus Check")



Retirement and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 
("Stimulus Check") 


Financial and Retirement Planning Information - 
for Beginners

As most of you know by now, there are no "Stimulus Checks" this year.  There are instead payroll tax cuts and other worker based incentives.

There are however, some people who will qualify for a check this year under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Unlike last year's stimulus checks, the IRS will not be mailing these checks.  This year's payment will be made by the respective agency under which you are qualified.

These checks are to be sent out in late May of 2009.

If you are retired or disabled, and are receiving benefits from the Social Security Administration, such as Social  Security or Supplemental Security Income (SSI), you will receive a $250.00 check from the Social Security Adminstiration.

If you are a disabled veteran, receiving payments from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, you should contact the Dept. of Veterans Affairs to learn more about your payments.

If you are a railroad retirement beneficiary, then contact the Railroad Retirement Board.

The Social Security Administrations says,
President Obama recently signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. This act provides for the one-time payment of $250 to individuals who get Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Social Security benefits.

We expect everyone who is entitled to a payment to receive it by late May 2009. No action is required on your part.
Go to: http://www.socialsecurity.gov/payment/ for "Social Security's Economic Recovery One-Time Payments Information Page"

The IRS says,
A one-time payment of $250 will be made in 2009 to:

* Retirees, disabled individuals and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients receiving benefits from the Social Security Administration.

* Disabled veterans receiving benefits from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

* Railroad Retirement beneficiaries.

The IRS will not make this payment — unlike last year's economic stimulus program. Individuals who may qualify for this year's economic recovery payment should contact their respective agency for more information.
Go to:http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=204468,00.html for "IRS One-Time Payment Information Page"

You should also know that if you did NOT receive a stimulus check last year (2008), you may qualify for a recovery rebate credit on your 2008 tax return.

According to the IRS, here are the conditions under which you may qualify:
  • Your financial situation changed dramatically from 2007 to 2008.
  • You did not file a 2007 tax return.
  • Your family gained an additional qualifying child in 2008.
  • You were claimed as a dependent on someone else’s return in 2007 but cannot be claimed as dependent by someone else in 2008.
Go to: http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=203191,00.html for "How to Get the Recovery Rebate Credit Right"

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

How to Pay Off Your Debts to Improve Your Finances and Retirement




-->
How to Pay Off Your Debts to Improve Your 
Finances and Retirement
Financial and Retirement Planning Information - 
for Beginners

Before I start telling you how to pay off your debts, I want to tell you a little about myself.

I read a lot of financial articles and so many of them don't apply to the average Joe. I read one recently that said, start saving money by passing up a Starbucks coffee every day. Well, I have never had a Starbucks coffee in my life.

When you clip coupons, eat hamburger and spaghetti, and only buy clothes for the kids, it is hard to cut back. You have to be spending money, before you can quit spending it.

Many of us do spend money on things we could cut out, but an awful lot of us don't! What is a luxury to some is a necessity to others. A newspaper may seem like a luxury, but if you are looking for a job, it is cheaper to have it delivered than to buy it on the stands, especially if you have to drive to get it. That newspaper is a necessity to the job seeker. What about the internet? Same deal. Where I live, local newspapers do not post classifieds online, unless you subscribe to that newspaper. Even if you have home delivery, you have to pay extra to access that same newspaper's website, so if I want to look for local jobs, I need to take or subscribe to that newspaper. The internet is necessary if I need to expand my job search, so I can't say, save money by dropping your internet service or your newspaper subscription. More and more, companies require you to apply online, so again, the internet is a necessary expense. I will say, look for ways to save money and if you find it, take advantage of it.

Oh, there is he, some rich SOB telling me how to save money. He probably never had to worry,” you are thinking to yourself. Wrong! This is a case of do as I say, not as I have done. I have learned a lot from making mistakes, and I am passing my experience on to you. I have been in debt up to my ears, I have gone hungry. I was never homeless, but I came close. I was never out of work, but I didn't always make enough to make ends meet.

By using the principals outlined below, I paid off $150,000.00, in debt, including interest, in six years, earning less than $20,000.00 a year. I know, it looks like if I spent my entire income on those debts, I still could not have paid them off. Read on to find out how I did it by paying my debts off early and saving a bundle on interest.

The first thing you need to do to pay off you debts is not acquire more debt than you can afford.

The second thing is to get the right type of loan. If, possible, don't get a loan with a pre-payment penalty. If you have a pre-payment penalty, it will cost you a considerable amount to pay that loan off early; however, you may save more in interest, than your pre-payment penalty would cost you, so figure it out both ways.

On the other hand, if you have a loan that lets you pay it off early, it is fairly easy (assuming you can afford the loan in the first place), to pay that loan off early. By paying your loan earlier than the initial terms dictate, you: 1) save interest (money in your pocket), 2) help your credit and FICO scores, and 3) feel good about yourself.

So, how do you pay it off early? There are two main ways. Pay extra each time you make a payment, and to make payments more often.

For example: if you have a loan that is $91.78 a month for five years, and you make your regular payments, you will pay $1,101.36 a year, for a total loan payoff of $5,506.80.

If you round that payment up to $100.00 a month, you will be paying $8.22 extra each month, which adds up to $98.64 a year, making your total payment for that year come to $1,200.00. By rounding your payment up, you just made one extra payment that year. In 5 years, that comes to slightly more than 5 payments. But if you add on the interest you saved by making these payment early, it may come to another 2 payments (depending on your interest rate). Now you have paid off your loan 7 months early, and you didn't even feel the pain!

Another great, and to some, much easier way to pay off a loan earlier is to make a payment more often. Many people get paid bi-weekly, so this method fits right in with their take-home pay schedule. If you have the above $91.78 a month loan, instead of paying $91.78 a month, pay ½ twice a month. If you pay $45.89 every other week, you will be making an extra payment a year without doing anything else. At the end of the year, you will have made $1,193.14 in payments, exactly one extra payment.

That is because if you make monthly payments, you will be paying 12 times a year, but if you pay every other week, you will be making – not 24 payments a year – but 26. Right there you have gained 1 extra payment, without paying 1cent extra. Depending on your interest rate, you may gain another payment due to the interest you saved.

Now, what would happen if you combined the two methods? What if you pay every two weeks and round up? Lets see: You would pay $50.00 twice a month (26 payments), which would come to $1,300.00 a year. That is $198.64 a year more than your loan contract, which is more than 2 payments. Remember that this amount is not counting the interest you saved. In four years, you would have gained at least 8 payments, just on principal and at least 2 more on interest, so you just paid your loan off a full year, if not more, early.

You did all of that by paying an extra $4.11 a week and two extra payments a year! Now that didn't hurt at all, did it? If you make a ¼ payment every week, you would save even more in interest.

To make these methods work, be sure you tell your financial institution to apply the extra payment to the principal amount, not the interest.  Loan payments always go to the interest amount first, unless you designate otherwise.  This means that your loan amount stays the same. 

If you owe $5000, and the interest on your payment is $10, and you make a $100 payment, $10 will go to the interest, and $90 will go to the principal.  If you make a $110 payment, without designating the extra $10 goes to the principal, $20 will be applied to the interest, and you will still owe (and be charged interest) on $90.  However, if you tell them to apply the extra $10 to the principal, your $110 payment will reduce your principal to  $80.00.

These examples are based on a $5,506.80. Now think about doing that to a $50.000.00 loan. How about a $500,000.00 loan?!

These methods only work if your financial institution allows you to make payments using these methods, or if you would save more that a pre-payment penalty. Be sure to check it out before you take out your loan. If you applied for a loan at two places and one allows you to make extra payments and the other doesn't – all other things being equal – take the one that allows you to make extra payments.

One other thing you should know about making extra payments, is how your financial institution applies it to your loan. I have found that on the whole, credit unions are better at allowing you to make an extra payment, and they way they apply it can be beneficial to you if you get in a pinch on down the road.

Here's why. For this example, let's use different numbers. If your payment is $100.00 and you pay an extra $25.00 a month, in four months, you would have made an extra payment. Some places will credit you with the extra payment amount against your principal, but no matter how many extra payments you make, you still owe your next payment, in full, the next month, just as though you had not paid any extra. Some places, however, will credit you not only with the extra payment amount, but with an extra payment, as well. See what I mean: You owe $100.00 a month. In January, February, March, and April, you pay $125.00, so you have made an extra payment. Your next payment would not be due in May, but in June, because you made May's payment with the extra amount in the first four months.

Now don't be tempted to skip May. Just keep on making those extra payments every month, and you will see that it easy to pay that loan off early. If you happen to get in a real pinch, say you lost your job, or had to have an operation and missed work without pay for two months, THEN would be the time to take advantage of the months your payment isn't due, but don't waste them on something trivial, such as, “I'll just skip that May payment and buy me a new (insert something you don't really need here).

Just make sure your bank or credit union allows you to make payments in these ways before you take out that loan. You will find that most loan companies will not allow either of these methods.

If you follow these simple steps, not only will you pay off your loans early, you will greatly improve your FICO and credit scores, feel really good about yourself, learn a little bit about financial planning, and taken a step to getting out and staying out of debt, and maybe even get a jump on your retirement.

By applying these methods, if possible, to existing loans, you may be able to avoid bankruptcy, or debt consolidation.

If you have several loans, or credit card debt, start with the one with the highest interest and pay as much extra, as often as possible to that loan or credit card. When you get it paid off, take the money that you're paying on that loan, and pay that much extra to the loan with the next highest interest. It will be hard and it may take several years, but you can pay off your debts, assuming you have an income.

Once you have paid off all of your loans, take the money you were paying on them and put that in an IRA, 401k, or saving account. Don't start spending it just because you have it available.

If you do as I say, not as I did (I should never have gotten $150,000.00 in debt in the first place), you too can improve your financial and retirement situation.

Friday, March 13, 2009

How to Find and Use Retirement Planning Tools



How to Find and Use Retirement Planning Tools
Financial and Retirement Planning Information - 
for Beginners 

There are thousands of retirement planning calculators and retirement planning software programs on the internet.

My first suggestion is: Never buy what you can get for free. I also live by the rule, you get what you pay for, but this seems to apply more to physical things, such as air guns, dishwashers, and furniture. Why do I say that? Because there are some excellent software programs to be found that are absolutely free. They cost you zilch, nada, nothing.

If you are like me, you are leery to download stuff because you don't know what you will be getting. Well, I found that some sites like Cnet (download.cnet.com) and PC World (pcworld.com) are excellent sites. They review and test a lot of the downloads so you know it is safe. A word of caution, they have freeware, shareware, and trialware, so be careful when choosing something.

Different retirement calculators allow you to calculate for your retirement in different ways. With some you enter how much you want to save per week or month, and for how many years, and the retirement calculator will tell you how much you will end up with. With others, you do it the opposite way. You put in how much you want when you retire, and how many years you have until then, and the calculator will tell you how much you need to save per week or month. By doing a little retirement income planning now, assuming you are starting early enough, and stick with it, you should be set all right when it comes time to quit working.

An excellent place to calculate what you will get from social security is the "Benefits Calculators: About the Social Security Retirement Estimator" on the Social Security Administration website at http://www.socialsecurity.gov/planners/  By entering your earnings the calculator:

  • provides an estimate of your retirement benefits comparable to the estimate you receive on your Social Security Statement each year, and
  • lets you create additional "what if" retirement scenarios based on current law.
You could hire a retirement planner, and if you will have a large amount of money, you should. However, most of us can get by using an income calculator and then sticking to the plan

Your retirement savings should be in a separate account or better yet, an Individual Retirement Account (IRA), or a 401k if available. There are also SEP IRA's for the self-employed. No matter what you have, you should plan on making the largest contribution possible.

Some things you should think about when you are planning for retirement. How do you want to live, and where do you want to live? Will you be satisfied living in your present home and reading books all day, or are you thinking more about retirement communities, and a yacht? Do you want enough retirement income to allow you to buy a motor home and travel? You will want to have the financial freedom to live as you would like.

I wrote earlier about debt consolidation, but when you are doing your financial planning, your goal should be to be debt free when you retire. You should get out of debt and then be able to stay out. You want to cancel your credit card debt and your mortgage. Don't, however, cancel your credit cards. That can hurt your credit.

Debt consolidation for beginners can be overwhelming. You might ask yourself, "Will I really be saving money?" or "How much will my new loan cost?" "Where is the best place to consolidate my loans...a bank, credit union or finance company?"  You need to shop around and get the best rates.  If you can see that you will have to consolidate your loans, do so before you get behind in all of your bills and hurt your credit.  Since interest on loans is based on your FICO (credit) score, the better your credit when you apply for a consolidation loan, the better your interest rate will be.

When considering an IRA, shop around and look for the best IRA rates. As with a loan, all banks and credit unions do not offer the same rates. Do you know that you can have several IRA accounts?

Be sure to consider the consequences of getting a traditional or Roth IRA. Put all of the money you can afford into your retirement, but don't forget to set aside some for that rainy day. If you should lose your job, or get sick, or hurt, and unable to work for while, you want to be able to live without having to make an IRA withdrawal. There are substantial penalties for withdrawing your money early. By the way, if you do lose your job, be sure to ask your HR person about a 401k rollover.

Well, that's it for today. Be sure to subscribe so that you will be notified when new posts are added.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

How to Improve Your Financial and Retirement Situation


How to Improve Your Financial and Retirement Situation 

Financial and Retirement Planning Information - 
for Beginners
The method of improving your financial and retirement situation depends somewhat on your age and your current status, but whatever your age, financial and retirement planning is a must.  You can't just hope that things will improve on their own.
If you are young and have time to build up a nest egg, you can afford to be a little less aggressive when it comes to stashing the cash, as you have a longer time to invest. On the other hand, if you are older, you need to be less aggressive in terms of investments, as you want something safer so your money won't be at risk when you are close to retirement.

Regardless of age, anyone who is earning a dime should have an IRA account. You should have this even if you have other types of retirement, but you should have it especially if you do not have any other kind of retirement.

Unless you are a multi-millionaire, you can not have too much in a retirement account. You don't know how long you are going to live, or how much things will cost in the future, or if you will not be healthy and need more than you anticipated for medical expenses and/or a nursing home.

The only exception I can think of to this rule is if you are in your 60's and don't have any retirement and very little money and a small income. Why would I say that is an exception? If you are on the borderline of having “some” money and have almost no money, it can keep you from being eligible for different kinds of assistance, but you can't afford to pay for everything you need. If you are in that situation, you will eventually spend all you have saved, and thus will become eligible. While you are waiting for that to happen you will be living frugally, having barely enough to pay all of your bills and buy food and medicine. Your life will be miserable, as you will live in fear of what the next day will bring. One day you will wake up and that fear will become a reality. Something will happen to push you over the edge, your refrigerator will go bad, or you will fall and break a bone, or the price of medicine will increase to the point that you can no longer afford it. Debt solutions should not consist of waiting until your are bankrupt so you can get out of debt. Debt management, especially younger in life, is better than trying to figure out how to get out of debt.

If you are in need of debt repair, then you probably also have need IRS debt relief. Believe it or not, the IRS has debt settlement programs and is sometimes more likely to negotiate than some creditors, so don't be afraid to try to work out some IRS debt relief.

When you reach the point of being totally broke - or close to it - you may become eligible for Medicaid, extra help on your Part D Medicare, and maybe some state assistance. Many hospitals have financial aid for low income, and will help pay or totally pay all of your hospital bills. Doctor bills usually are not included.

Medical bills ruin the credit of thousands of people every year. It used to be in the state where I live that as long a you made a monthly payment on your medical bill, even if it was only $1.00 a month, you could not be sued, and your debt could not be turned in to a collection agency. That all changed about 20 years ago, and now doctors and hospitals are very quick to bill you, and almost quicker to turn your debt over to a collection agency. They now dictate what you will pay, and there is little, if any, negotiation. They tell you they want $100.00 a month payment and you tell them you can only pay $75.00. They will tell you if you don't pay the $100.00, then they will just turn it over to be collected. They don't want to be bothered with the time and expense of collecting.

Once the collection agency gets their hands on your debt, you are at their mercy. Consumer credit counseling may help some, but your credit report has already been damaged. Credit repair is possible, but it a long and hard road, especially if you owe a large amount.

If you are younger, you need to be aware of what could happen to you when you get older, and watch out for yourself. Many people say they have to put their children through college, or help raise their grandchildren, but they are just hurting themselves. You are not obligated to put your children through college. Unless they are actually starving, you don't have to help your grandchildren. Do they really need a cell phone and an ipod at age 8? It is nice if you can afford to do that, but don't do it a your own expense.

If you are older and need cash, and you own your own home, consider a reverse mortgage. Once again, don't try to hang on to the house so you can pass it on to your children. Look out for yourself first! No one else is going to take care of your financial and retirement situation but you.

What Are You Doing About Your Finances and Retirement? How to Plan



What Are You Doing About Your Finances and Retirement?  How to Plan

Financial and Retirement Planning Information - 
for Beginners



Now is the time to make your retirement plans and to get ready as early in life as you can.

Don't wait until you are 50 or 55 years old to start thinking about retirement -- that is too late. You need to start thinking about retirement on the day you make your first dollar.

Too many people put off retirement planning until they are in the late 40's or 50's because they have children and bills and they think they can't afford to save when they are young. Even if you save only $5.00 a week at 3% interest, compounded monthly, you will have about $20,000.00 at age 60 if you start at age 20. There are plenty of retirement planning calculators online to help you achieve your goals.

Unfortunately many people today have saved all of their lives and suddenly find themselves broke. The stock market crash has ruined thousands or maybe even hundreds of thousands of people's lives.

Far too many people can't retire because they lost all of their money in the stock market or 401K's.

If a person is in their early 50's or younger, then they have time to wait for the market to recover -- which it has always done. Of course, there is no guarantee it will this time, but if it doesn't, it won't matter much as we will have a lot more to worry about than just retirement.

But we have to remember, as bad as the economy seems to us today, it is nothing compared to the great depression of the 1930's. We just feel like it is so bad, because unless you are over 70, we have been spoiled all of our lives, and have never really had a hardship.

You may have been living from paycheck to paycheck, and barely making ends meet, and now you find yourself out of a job. Or perhaps, you are still working, but don't know for how long.

You may have a lot of credit card debt, a mortgage, two car payments, and kids in school.

How are you going to make that house payment and car payment and still be able to eat?

You might be thinking you have a good FICO score, and a large line of credit, so you will just borrow money to tide you through the bad times. What if the bad times last longer than expected. What will you do then? How will you pay back your new debt as well as your previous debt?

If you find yourself barely able to make ends meet, you should consider consumer credit counseling. You also need to think about another way to make money. Is your spouse working? If not, they could get a job. You could also get a second job, maybe part-time.

You could try consolidating credit card debt and loans, and that would help some. You might want to consolidate credit cards into one new loan and all other loans into a separate debt consolidation. Or you might try just a student loan consolidation, if you have a lot. When you do it that way you won't be paying off your credit card and mortgage for the same length of time.

If you do decide to have only one loan consolidation, don't make a mistake a lot of people make: roll in very small amounts. For instance, you owe $100,000.00 on your house, you just purchased a $40,000.00 car, you owe $20,000.00 on a student loan and you have $500.00 left on a loan you took out to repair your old car before you traded it in.

The tempting thing to do is to roll $160,500.00 into a consolidated loan. Sounds good, right? Get rid of all of your bills and just have one payment! Stop and think a minute. You still owe $500.00 for repairs on a car you don't even own anymore, now you want to add that to a 30 year loan at 7% interest? Do you realize if you do that, you will be paying 7% interest on that $500.00 for 30 years! That $500.00 could end up costing you about $4000.00. Go ahead and consolidate the other loans, but pay off that $500.00 separately. There are a lot of ways to make money, especially a small amount. Stop and think.

Let's see, you could have a yard/garage sale. Or just sell a second or third vehicle you don't use a lot. Find all the junk in your house and put it on eBay. Do you know someone who delivers newspapers? Volunteer to do their deliveries while they go on vacation. You can pick up a few bucks, but you aren't committed to a job forever. Mow yards, shovel snow, walk some dogs. Get a part-time job as a delivery person. That has a very high rate of turnovers.

There are a lot of ways to earn money, but if all else fails, maybe you will have to cut back on your expenses.

Just know that you are not the only one with debt problems. Almost everyone today is in the same boat, but given time, we will pull through, and before you know it, your finances will be in good shape again and you will be all ready to enjoy your retirement.

Privacy Policy

How to Plan Finances and Retirement -
For Beginners


Privacy

I guard my online privacy religiously, and I will do the same for you to the best of my ability.
I respect your privacy and I am committed to safeguarding your privacy while online at this site http://owneroperator411.blogspot.com/
The following discloses how I gather and disseminate information for this Blog.

Email Updates

If a user wishes to subscribe to my RSS Feeds or Email Updates (powered by Feedburner), I ask for contact information such as name (only if required for you to send an email), and email address. Users may opt-out of these communications at any time. Your personal information will never be sold or given to a third party. (You will never be spammed by me – ever.)

Log Files and Stats

Like most blogging platforms I use log files, in this case Statcounter and Google Analytics. This stores information such as internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, internet service provider (ISP), referring, exit and visited pages, platform used, date/time stamp, track user’s movement in the whole, and gather broad demographic information for aggregate use. IP addresses etc. are not linked to personally identifiable information.

Cookies

A cookie is a piece of data stored on the user’s computer tied to information about the user. This blog doesn't use cookies. However, some of my business partners use cookies on this site (for example - advertisers). I can't access or control these cookies once the advertisers have set them.

I use third-party advertising companies to serve ads when you visit our website. These companies may use information (not including your name, address, email address, or telephone number) about your visits to this and other websites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you. If you would like more information about this practice and to know your choices about not having this information used by these companies, please check the advertisers websites for respective privacy policies.

  • Google, as a third party vendor, uses cookies to serve ads on your site.

  • Google's use of the DART cookie enables it to serve ads to your users based on their visit to your sites and other sites on the Internet.

  • Users may opt out of the use of the DART cookie by visiting the Google ad and content network privacy policy.

Links

This Blog contains links to other sites. Please be aware that I am not responsible for the privacy practices of these other sites. I suggest my users to be aware of this when they leave this blog and to read the privacy statements of each and every site that collects personally identifiable information.
This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this Blog.

Advertisers

I use outside ad companies to display ads on this blog. These ads may contain cookies and are collected by the advertising companies and I do not have access to this information. I work with the following advertising company(ies): Google Adsense. Please check the advertisers websites for respective privacy policies.

Contact Information

If you have any questions or concerns please contact me, Road King, at
owneropertor411@aol.com This privacy policy was updated 20 March 2009.